A second half surge by the Santa Barbara High boys basketball team overwhelmed rival San Marcos as the Dons overcame a halftime deficit to defeat the Royals 63-59 on Wednesday night at a packed J.R. Richards Gymnasium.
Luke Zuffelato scored eleven of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter as Santa Barbara outscored San Marcos 17-9 in the period to turn a 36-31 halftime deficit into a 48-45 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“I think we gave good effort, we just weren’t being smart. We weren’t executing our offensive sets. Emotions got the best of us,” said Santa Barbara High coach Greg Zuffelato of his team’s slow start. “We figured it out in the second half. I was very proud of {San Marcos}, a lot of those guys have not played in this big game before and they were the poised team to start.”
The Royals were in a zone collectively early in the game. The ball movement was crisp, they attacked the rim with conviction and, most importantly, their shots were falling.
Sophomore forward Koji Heffner opened the game with a three-pointer and San Marcos built on its lead on a reverse layup by Joe Pasternack that increased the lead to 7-2 at the 6:06 mark of the first quarter.
A basket inside by Shane Kadlec increased the San Marcos lead to 11-4 and forced a Santa Barbara timeout midway through the first quarter.
A Zuffelato three-pointer with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter cut the Santa Barbara deficit to 16-11, but Micah Jacobi closed the quarter with a basket inside plus the foul to give the Royals a 19-11 lead.
Jacobi scored nine of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter.
“They played with such poise and togetherness and they were making great decisions,” said San Marcos coach James Kinzler of his team’s first half performance. “Everything looks really good when the ball goes through the basket.”
A three-pointer by Tobin Shyrock cut the Santa Barbara deficit to 23-20 with six minutes remaining in the second quarter, but San Marcos responded with an 8-2 run and increased its lead to 31-122 on a driving layup by Brody Green midway through the period.
The Dons kept hanging around despite San Marcos’ stellar first half play and a Zuffelato three-pointer cut the deficit to 33-31 with just under a minute remaining in the first half.
With the momentum shifting in Santa Barbara direction Pasternack displayed his flair for the dramatic with a deep three-pointer off the dribble that splashed through the net as the halftime buzzer sounded. The clutch shot gave San Marcos a 36-31 lead at the break.
The Dons locked in defensively in the third quarter and a hot hand by Zuffelato turned the tide.
A three-pointer by Zuffelato gave Santa Barbara its first lead of the game, 44-43, at the 2:30 mark of the third quarter. The Dons would not trail again.
Waylon Finkle followed up with a three-pointer of his own that increased the Santa Barbara lead to 47-43.
“We were down at half, but we’re always in it in the second half. That’s our thing,” Finkle said. “We really got out there tonight and got it done in the last minutes.”
The Royals couldn’t get over the hump in the fourth quarter as Santa Barbara converted 9-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
With the victory Santa Barbara improves to 13-7 overall and 5-1 in Channel League play. San Marcos drops to 9-10 overall and 3-3 in Channel League play.